Domains of Masculine Gender Role Stress and Intimate Partner Violence in a Clinical Sample of Violent Men

This study investigated the relationship between the specific factors of the Masculine Gender Role Stress (MGRS) scale and intimate partner violence among a clinical sample of violent men. Participants were 339 men court-mandated to attend violence intervention programs. After demonstrating that the 5-factor MGRS model evidenced strong fit in this sample, analyses revealed that MGRS total scores were associated with each form of intimate partner violence perpetration. However, subsequent analyses that regressed each form of aggression onto all 5 MGRS factors simultaneously revealed that different factors were responsible for each association. Specifically, gender role stress regarding failure to perform in work and sexual domains was the only factor associated with psychological aggression, gender role stress regarding appearing physically fit and not appearing feminine was the only factor associated with sexual coercion, and gender role stress regarding intellectual inferiority was the only factor associated with injury to partners. No single MGRS factor was uniquely associated with physical aggression. Implications are discussed in terms of the importance of examining specific domains of gender role stress when studying and treating partner violence.